Environmentalists push Michigan lawmakers to forge ahead on moratorium and regulations for data centers
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Groups looked to remind elected officials of data centers' effects as members of the state senate returned to work.
This article was originally published by Michigan Advance.
As data center developments remain top of mind for Michigan residents, and with Election Day soon on the horizon, environmental advocates continue to push lawmakers to enact a statewide moratorium and establish better protections for communities.
Members of the Michigan Senate returned to Lansing last week. In turn, members of the Sierra Club’s Michigan chapter, Clean Water Action and the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition stood upon the Michigan Capitol’s east steps for a news conference meant to remind lawmakers of their responsibility to act on data centers.
Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have introduced policies to block permitting for new data center projects for a full year, arguing that the state needs to hit the pause on data center development to give local governments time to determine how one of these facilities could impact their residents.
A group of Democratic state Senators in June put forth a series of proposed regulations on data centers, including water-use permit requirements, protections for water and electrical customers, community benefit requirements and a ban on public officials entering into non-disclosure agreements tied to data center deals.
However, the bills have not seen any movement in the Senate Energy and Environment Committee since their introduction.
While Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) has expressed interest in taking up some regulations on data centers, another slate of proposals put forth by House Democrats has similarly sat dormant in the House Government Operations Committee since June. The committee is generally considered as the committee where bills go to die.
During the group’s press conference on Sept. 9, Chris Gilmer-Hill, policy manager for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, noted how a lack of strict regulation on data centers in other states had contributed to pollution in Black and working class neighborhoods. Gilmer-Hill is also the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 8th Michigan House District.
In addition to the health of our communities, data centers have also impacted the health of our democracy, Gilmer-Hill said.
“Data centers have already corroded trust in our government, and have shown real flaws in transparency at the state and local level all over our state,” Gilmer-Hill said. “We’ve seen people in communities across the state be surprised to find out that a data center was coming to their community, potentially an enormous project that was going to have direct impacts on their lives in their neighborhoods, and they didn’t know about it because of a non-disclosure agreement.”
Marta Johnson, legislative and political organizer for Sierra Club Michigan, said that a moratorium is a critical piece in addressing Michiganders concerns around data centers, but is not the solution on its own.
Johnson called the Senate’s package of data center regulations “an excellent start” but stressed that the state should move toward a moratorium regardless, as there is no guarantee that lawmakers and the governor will be able to agree on data center regulations.
“We have an excellent start, let’s see it get moving,” Johnson told reporters after the press conference.